For months, President Donald Trump has fixated on one legislative priority. Now, its repeated failure may be costing Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., the president’s support.
Trump has badgered Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, his missing legislative crown jewel, turning support for the bill into a loyalty test.
Thune has become the target for those irritated that the bill hasn’t moved in the Senate. For months, Trump largely spared him from criticism over the bill’s stalled progress. That appears to have changed.
The hairline fractures in their relationship stem from Thune doing what few Republicans are willing to do: tell Trump no.
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“Well, that’s too bad for him,” Trump said when asked about Thune not having the votes to move the SAVE America Act. “I mean, that’s too bad for him and too bad for the Republican Party.”
“He’s got the votes,” he continued. “He should get it done. He should be able to get it done.”
And, though he’s backed him before, Trump appeared to waver in his support of Thune when asked if he was the right man for the job.
“Well, we’re going to find out, and I’ll let you know,” Trump said.
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On his way to and from the Senate floor, Thune was pressed on Trump’s comments. When asked about Trump wavering on him as the leader of the Senate GOP, Thune signaled it wasn’t up to him.
“I don’t know what you say on that,” he said. “That’s a decision made by my colleagues.”
He also pushed back on the president’s assertion that Republicans could pass the SAVE America Act.
“That must be a different form of math,” Thune said.
Thune has repeatedly argued Republicans simply don’t have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act, a position that has increasingly put him at odds with Trump. A bloc of Republicans has never supported the legislation, while Senate Democrats overwhelmingly oppose it, leaving Thune without the votes.
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“I think it’s wrong to blame Thune for this — Senator Thune,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital. “This is not his fault.”
Still, Thune has moved major legislation backed by the president and has the Senate on a record pace for nominee confirmations, all while dealing with vulnerable Republicans taking tough political votes and Democrats who are bound to kneecap Trump’s agenda at every turn.
“I hope that the next Congress, the people with the election certificates as U.S. senators who actually make that decision, show some independence and courage,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. “And recognize that Thune has helped navigate an almost impossible scenario to navigate with this president.”
The legislation has been tested several times in a variety of forms, and has never gotten the needed votes to pass. And Thune has said the votes aren’t there to nuke the filibuster, which Trump has pushed for throughout his second term.
Even as Trump publicly questions Thune, the Senate GOP leader intends to seek another term as the top Republican.
Leadership is elected internally by Senate Republicans, not by the president. Thune came out of a crowded field to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., battling Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to get the top spot in the Senate GOP.
And his colleagues, so far, have his back.
Scott, who ran against Thune, told Fox News Digital that he had no intention of running for the top gig in the Senate again. He also noted that even though he wanted it, it’s a difficult profession to take on.
“John’s a smart guy,” Scott said. “He is working really hard. So I think he shouldn’t — you know, it’s tough to be the leader.”
“We’ve got a lot of issues we haven’t addressed, so it’s hard,” he continued. “I assumed it was gonna be hard.”
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